Okay, I had to go look this up, but 'rear-entry' here refers to how backseat passengers get in. While 'tonneau' now refers to a seat or cargo cover, it started as it's used here, as a rear seat with a rounded shape. (The word originally meant 'barrel' or 'cask' in French.) The tonneau was an optional add-on to these 'runabout' cars. Most of them had a trunk instead.

'Rear-entry' here refers to how you get into the tonneau. If you look, you'll see that it would be very awkward, and maybe difficult, to get into that seat from the front or side. Early tonneaus, like this one, were accessed from the rear of the vehicle. (Tonneau and later back seat doors came along later.)

You can now blame me for the rest of the sophomoric jokes to inevitably follow.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

That referred to the Model 'T', which was the first mass-produced assembly-line auto. Prior to that, they were mostly one-off models, each custom made to order. Though some were standardized, but still not on an assembly line.

At least that is my recollection. Some auto-geeks here can probably accurate-ize that

My grandmother talked about having one of the first cars in her village, and having to get into the back seat from the back. I don't recall if she said it was a Ford though. She was born in 1905 , so probably not this model, since it would be a few years past that for her to be old enough to remember a detail like that how she entered a car.

She also talked about how the cars would be mostly stored over-winter and overhauled in the driveway every spring. Literally disassembling the engine and putting it back together. At least from her point of view, I do not know how accurate that statement really is.

Sylvia_Bandersnatch:Okay, I had to go look this up, but 'rear-entry' here refers to how backseat passengers get in. While 'tonneau' now refers to a seat or cargo cover, it started as it's used here, as a rear seat with a rounded shape. (The word originally meant 'barrel' or 'cask' in French.) The tonneau was an optional add-on to these 'runabout' cars. Most of them had a trunk instead.

'Rear-entry' here refers to how you get into the tonneau. If you look, you'll see that it would be very awkward, and maybe difficult, to get into that seat from the front or side. Early tonneaus, like this one, were accessed from the rear of the vehicle. (Tonneau and later back seat doors came along later.)

You can now blame me for the rest of the sophomoric jokes to inevitably follow.

The car first changed hands fifty years later when it was sold for $400, then went through a number of subsequent owners, the most recent one purchasing it for in 2007 for $693,000 at an RM Auction in Arizona, its rarity driving up the price significantly during the intervening years.

The Model A was last offered for auction in 2010, but bidding failed to meet an undisclosed reserve. This time around, the car has a pre-sale estimate of $300,000 to $500,000, according to RM Auctions.

tomWright:She also talked about how the cars would be mostly stored over-winter and overhauled in the driveway every spring. Literally disassembling the engine and putting it back together. At least from her point of view, I do not know how accurate that statement really is.

I have a neighbor who has a Harley and that's pretty much par for the course for him.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

That referred to the Model 'T', which was the first mass-produced assembly-line auto. Prior to that, they were mostly one-off models, each custom made to order. Though some were standardized, but still not on an assembly line.

At least that is my recollection. Some auto-geeks here can probably accurate-ize that

Yep, you are right on the money. And the only reason they were all black is that because that color dried faster for some reason, which allowed greater productivity. But prior to the T, you could order a Ford in any color you wanted; Henry would pretty much do anything to sell you a car in the early days.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

That referred to the Model 'T', which was the first mass-produced assembly-line auto. Prior to that, they were mostly one-off models, each custom made to order. Though some were standardized, but still not on an assembly line.

At least that is my recollection. Some auto-geeks here can probably accurate-ize that

Yep, you are right on the money. And the only reason they were all black is that because that color dried faster for some reason, which allowed greater productivity. But prior to the T, you could order a Ford in any color you wanted; Henry would pretty much do anything to sell you a car in the early days.

In the first years of the Model T (1909 to 1913) multiple colors were offered, and they would be again at the end of the T's run in 1926-27.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

That referred to the Model 'T', which was the first mass-produced assembly-line auto. Prior to that, they were mostly one-off models, each custom made to order. Though some were standardized, but still not on an assembly line.

At least that is my recollection. Some auto-geeks here can probably accurate-ize that

If you're going to quote wikipedia, you should really finish reading the section before quoting it as gospel. Not even all Model Ts were in black:

Colors

By 1918, half of all the cars in the US were Model T's. However it was a monolithic bloc; Ford wrote in his autobiography that he told his management team in 1909 that in the future "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black".[21]

However, in the first years of production from 1908 to 1914, the Model T was not available in black[22] but rather only grey, green, blue, and red. Green was available for the touring cars, town cars, coupes, and Landaulets. Grey was only available for the town cars, and red only for the touring cars. By 1912, all cars were being painted midnight blue with black fenders. It was only in 1914 that the "any color so long as it is black" policy was finally implemented. It is often stated that Ford suggested the use of black from 1914 to 1926 due to the cheap cost and durability of black paint. During the lifetime production of the Model T, over 30 different types of black paint were used on various parts of the car.[23] These were formulated to satisfy the different means of applying the paint to the various parts, and had distinct drying times, depending on the part, paint, and method of drying.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

WP: "The Model A was sold only in red by the factory, though some were later repainted in other colors." It goes on, however, to acknowledge that they have no citation for this.

I used to run paid search engine advertising for car dealerships. I had a set of Excel macros to automatically bid on keywords that concatenated the make and models they sold along with the towns and neighborhoods within a certain radius of the dealership (e.g. "Springfield Mazda"). Using this system, I was able to manage (not well, as you will see) hundreds of clients simultaneously.

Anyway, one day I got a Ford dealership in Minneapolis, put it through the system, and launched the campaign on Google. The client wanted to dominate the market, so I set the bids and budget through the roof. When I got around to checking it a few days later, I realized I had spent tens of thousands of dollars because there is a neighborhood in Minneapolis called "Harrison" -- "Harrison Ford".

My grandmother talked about having one of the first cars in her village, and having to get into the back seat from the back. I don't recall if she said it was a Ford though. She was born in 1905 , so probably not this model, since it would be a few years past that for her to be old enough to remember a detail like that how she entered a car.

She also talked about how the cars would be mostly stored over-winter and overhauled in the driveway every spring. Literally disassembling the engine and putting it back together. At least from her point of view, I do not know how accurate that statement really is.

/CSB

What I read earlier said that all early tonneaus were rear-entry, no matter who made them.

As for remembering, like most cars through history, they stuck around for years after they were made, so it's possible. I think there may be some confusion, though, as there were *two different* Ford Model A's, made a quarter century apart. The first one was made 1903-4, the second 1927-31. My father said he remembered his father 'borrowing' a Model A in the 1940s, and it seems to me unlikely that anyone in that time would casually lend out a 40-year-old restoration; more likely, he remembers one of the later ones, and it's possible your grandmother does, too.

As for rebuilding motors, the motors of the time were much simpler than those today, with much more forgiving tolerances, and so much easier to rebuild.

"Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black." - Remark about the Model T in 1909, published in his autobiography My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71, Henry Ford

That referred to the Model 'T', which was the first mass-produced assembly-line auto. Prior to that, they were mostly one-off models, each custom made to order. Though some were standardized, but still not on an assembly line.

At least that is my recollection. Some auto-geeks here can probably accurate-ize that

Yep, you are right on the money. And the only reason they were all black is that because that color dried faster for some reason, which allowed greater productivity. But prior to the T, you could order a Ford in any color you wanted; Henry would pretty much do anything to sell you a car in the early days.

Not quite, according to WP. Early Fords were not available in black at all. The Model T was available in different colours, some restricted to certain styles. The Model T was introduced in 1908, but not available in black until 1914. By 1912, all Model T's were painted midnight blue with black fenders. The choice of black was not because it dried faster, but because it was cheaper and more durable. However, Ford did use 30 different black paints, each selected for its specific application, and those choices were based on relative drying time between parts.

The original Model A was not available in black, and neither was the later one that followed the Model T. The original A apparently only in red, and the later one in four colours.

I'm confused.From Wikipedia:The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie, T‑Model Ford, 'Model T Ford', or T) is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to October 1927.

The Ford Model A of 1928-1931 (also colloquially called the A-Model Ford or the A, and A-bone among rodders and customizes[2]) was the second huge success for the Ford Motor Company, after its predecessor, the Model T. First produced on October 20, 1927, but not sold until December 2, it replaced the venerable Model T, which had been produced for 18 years

Are they saying Ford made a prototype Model A five years before the Model T went into production but then waited twenty five years to produce the Model A?

I'm confused.From Wikipedia:The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie, T‑Model Ford, 'Model T Ford', or T) is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to October 1927.

The Ford Model A of 1928-1931 (also colloquially called the A-Model Ford or the A, and A-bone among rodders and customizes[2]) was the second huge success for the Ford Motor Company, after its predecessor, the Model T. First produced on October 20, 1927, but not sold until December 2, it replaced the venerable Model T, which had been produced for 18 years

Are they saying Ford made a prototype Model A five years before the Model T went into production but then waited twenty five years to produce the Model A?

No. In 1903, Ford started the car models with A, followed by B, C, etc. Some letters never made it into production. Before the Model T, there were models R & S, but the one before them was N. After the huge success of the Model T, Ford decided to start at the beginning of the alphabet again, rather than coming out with a Model U.

Wert789:I'm confused.From Wikipedia:The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie, T‑Model Ford, 'Model T Ford', or T) is an automobile that was produced by Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company from September 1908 to October 1927.

The Ford Model A of 1928-1931 (also colloquially called the A-Model Ford or the A, and A-bone among rodders and customizes[2]) was the second huge success for the Ford Motor Company, after its predecessor, the Model T. First produced on October 20, 1927, but not sold until December 2, it replaced the venerable Model T, which had been produced for 18 years

Are they saying Ford made a prototype Model A five years before the Model T went into production but then waited twenty five years to produce the Model A?

There were two different Model A's, produced a quarter century apart. One before the Model T, the other after.

I have read somewhere that Ford required part suppliers to ship parts in wooden crates of a specific size, so when workers removed the parts, and then the sides of said containers, the bottoms of the crates were ready to be installed as the floorboards of his cars. Quite a resourceful man. He also hated the Jews.

Ooba Tooba:I have read somewhere that Ford required part suppliers to ship parts in wooden crates of a specific size, so when workers removed the parts, and then the sides of said containers, the bottoms of the crates were ready to be installed as the floorboards of his cars. Quite a resourceful man. He also hated the Jews.

It appears to be mostly (but not entirely) a myth. Here's an interesting discussion on it.